NICHOLLS ENJOYING PROVING HIMSELF

Goalkeeper happy with third clean sheet of the season after tough Yeovil test.

Before a game I do like the fact that a lot of people are expecting a mistake from me because I’m young."

Lee Nicholls

It’s been just two weeks between the goal posts for Lee Nicholls and he’s already seen a lot.

Thrust into the Championship after the pre-match warm up injury to Scott Carson against Charlton Athletic at the end of December, Nicholls has gone on to claim three clean sheets for Latics in the league, along with making his European debut in the mammoth trip to Rubin Kazan last week.

Daunting for some, but not for the 21-year-old, who admits his recent spell of matches have made him hungry to prove a point.

Following Latics’ 1-0 victory away to Yeovil Town on Sunday, Nicholls said:

“Before a game I do like the fact that a lot of people are expecting a mistake from me because I’m young.

“It makes me want to prove a point to people and I think that’s one of the best things I can do as a young goalkeeper.”

Speaking about the Yeovil game Nicholls added:

A clean sheet at any level is always good and I’m really happy with the way I’ve started so far in the Championship.

“As a young player I’m bound to be looked at quite closely if I make a mistake, because people always want to see how quickly you can bounce back.

“After the chance that Ryan (Shotton) cleared from behind me when Paddy Madden almost scored, I just got on with my game and made sure I dealt with the next ball.”

On the threat that Yeovil possessed in the opening period of Sunday’s game Nicholls said:

“We knew it was going to be a tough place to go to and that they would be fighting until the last minute for something from the game.

“Although we expected them to push from kick off, I don’t think we were quite prepared for just how hard they would work.

“We had to dig deep at times to make sure we got through the pressure on level terms and then as Yeovil went longer and longer without breaking us down, we took advantage and began to create chances of our own.

“As a team we grew into the game and we created enough chances to win the game as we have been doing in our recent matches, it’s just this time we took one of those to make sure we won.”